freaks

"There is no God, only my iPhone"

ok sorry i should not call them freaks. I just dont understand their ways....they are just so weird...

Twitter: micro blogs for micro minds.

can't think of any twitters I'd be less interested in reading ...

Just because you can tweet does not mean you should be listened to

what do they twitter? please send more kool-aid. Jim Jones needs more Kool-aid. What flavor would our exhaulted leader choose? Does Trader Joes have kool-aid?

what a scarey cult!!

Don't you guys ever get tired off dumping on these folks? No, I don't go to their church, or any for that matter. But I don't understand the insults. Is it so awful that there are people out there who think different than you?

I agree BB - why are we picking on them? More power to them, they are obviously able to reach out to and inspire a wide audience.

WWJT?

It's all three things this world needs less of at once! Cellphones, dogma, and social networking websites!

Good one Mindy!

Ahhhhhhhhh

More tolerance and the honoring of diversity from the commenters at My Ballard Blog.

I am old school - got mad at the husband when he texted the son during mass a couple of weeks ago - said he was disrespectful to the celebrant and distracting to the rest of us. Maybe I should suggest he is just in the wrong congregation.

I'll be tolerant as long as this bunch of twits doesn't manage to get Rush Limbaugh elected our next president. Tolerance is fine. But at some point the spreading of ignorance affects others.

I heard the Mars Hill raised $11 million in donations in 2008.

I wonder what they do with all that cash... They only have one "pastor" since all the other elders were fired. And, it seems like they are so busy bashing homosexuals and feminists that they don't have time for community service.. So, what could that money be spent on..??

Where or where does the money go? Nobody knows, but I for one, think they should invest in Trader Joes.

Who cares about mars hill. Why is that cult on
here?!

Tolerance abounds on MyBallard.com.

rory@17, agreed! Please, Geeky Swedes, in the future only post pre-vetted stories on topics that 100% of your readers want to read.

I don't like all the dumping on them either but I agree with Wayne that rather than dumping we should be cautiously watching. Religion can be dangerous.

Read this article (thanks Zipper). It is a bit long, but a very frightening account of the Mars Hill church.

http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2006/09/13/rig...

Tolerance is something we're preaching here, but obviously not something Mars Hill preaches...and I think therein lies the rub.

I just re-read that NYT article posted long ago, and the one sentence that stuck out to me...yet again was..."they are sinning by questioning." What???

Another attempt by MH to try and be hip and stay relevant.

I was on the bus the other day and these kids, maybe like 14 or 15 years of age, were coming from church at Mars Hill and were talking about the service.

It grossed me out. They were talking about some sort of "youth revolution (which I'd imagine means procreate, procreate, procreate)." It wasn't so much the subject matter that sickened me, just that anyone could take that shit seriously.

Ok, Ok. So they're conservative Christians wrapped in "hip" clothing. I get that.

So what? Why the hell does it bother everyone so much? Are we all so perfect and unblemished that we can feel empowered to become religious critics?

And why make assumptions? Perhaps the "youth revolution" is about something as simple as staying off drugs...not procreation. The point is, you don't know. So why conjecture at all?

Mark Driscoll's anti-gay & anti-woman comments speak to both his own insecurities & to the bizarreness of Mars Hill itself.

This weird institiution deserves no tolerance, since it preaches its own disingenuous breed of hatred.

Mark Driscoll.... A stranger in a strange land.

They openly state that a woman's purpose is to pop out kids.

boardbrown...I invite you and all others to vistit there website and listen to a sermon or two. And you will see that this "Youth Revolution" is about oppressing women and denying their rights as well as a spirit of exclussion and superiority that is really quite revolting. I really find it hard to believe that after review anyone can or would condone their mothers or sisters being treated in that manner and being denied their rights to be equal contibutors.

However in their defense it is a free nation and they are free to practice their religion. It just makes my skin crawl so I will choose not too participate.

I don't give a crap what they preach, but I am appalled that they are tax-exempt.

"deserves no tolerance"

Spoken like a true member of Seattle's hard Left.

I disagree with their philosophy and think all religions are nonsense (yeah, including you, Tibetan prayer flag hanging Seattle Buddhist wannabees) but if people want to believe this stuff that's their right and I welcome the diversity of ideas in Seattle.

"but I am appalled that they are tax-exempt."

I agree. Can we also stop using city tax funds to support the Dalai Lama's visits?

Seems to me that Twittering in this context is the same as talking during a class or during a symphony concert or at a meeting, etc. If the "services" were interesting enough to hold people's attention they would not be encouraging people to distract themselves by sending Twitter messages during them.

let me preface with this: i've attended this church, but no longer do.

it's not that they're anti-women or gays. their reasoning is that they "follow the Bible," exactly as it is written. additionally, they are extreme religious fundamentalists/legalists that lean heavily on calvinism (god chooses you, you don't choose him).

they can easily convince the youth because we can all see that this world is dark and sinful in many respects. the youth reformation, reformission, new radicalism, whatever you wanna call it, is about teaching the idea that everybody's been doing it wrong before you, so if you follow their strict principles, then you can make a bigger and better difference than any one else.

the danger is that they think they follow it (the Bible) better or more perfectly than other christians, hence why they are the 'new' reformation. but if you don't agree with his interpretations - and it's VERY important to remember that they are interpretations- then you aren't following the Bible perfectly, making you a half-ass christian.

this is dangerous because it shifts the purpose of Jesus' message in the first place. you're so damn focused on yourself and that your theory is better than the rest of the world's, that there's no time for loving others. according to them, being gay is sinful, so they don't have time to love them, they must spend all their time teaching them to 'repent'. they are focused on how women can't be preachers. it goes on and on.

again, that's not the point jesus brought, i don't care if you believe he was the messiah, i think we all can agree he's one of the best men that has ever lived. the point is love people, it's not that hard.

anyway....you all are right in that you should be wary. but they are certainly not a horrible cult that we should spend time sneering at. they are allowed to believe whatever the hell they want, and i think that's something we can agree on.

I agree with you alittlebird.....I would think that this (using communication devise) would be considered rude behavior. Imagine, twittering during services!

They may be nuts, but I bet they make fine neighbors.

"This weird institiution deserves no tolerance, since it preaches its own disingenuous breed of hatred."

So if your child slugs his sibling in the head, do you tell her to do the same back? If you're going to criticize a group for it's spirit of "exclussion and superiority", it would seem to me that you'd be all the more wiser to not follow suit.

in what setting is intolerance tolerable?

in what setting is intolerance tolerable?

Simple. In any setting in which tolerance causes harm to others. To you tolerate criminals?

"he that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone"- John 8:7

One thing I noticed a while back is that the mars hill church had security guys walking around dressed in black during their service...really weird vibe for a church dont ya think?

I don't criticize them for those things. I criticize them because I think what they believe is insane and not helping society.

“he that (sic) is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone”- John 8:7

Why do we have to wait for that guy?

@respecteux voisin
Sigh...there 's always one a-hole that feels compelled to offer this trite quote involving religion. What keen insight. At least the other comments are interesting no matter what your view.

There are only two sins: blind faith and weak coffee. Mars Hill is both.

Whatever.

I guess in the end I really don't care what any of you guys think. Just like I don't care what they teach in that church. I got enough to worry about in my life right now.

I just think the hatred and insults are stupid and childish. You'd think a bunch of educated adults would act differently.

Can you twitter statements of repentance in 140 characters or less?

Why dump on MHC? Because they are a terrifying cult. The pastor preaches that they can dress how they want, listen to the music they choose and generally meld in with the rest of society. Oh except woman should be subservient to men because God made them that way.

This is a dangerous element to have in our community. That's why they should be dumped on. If we're not okay with the Taliban preaching and ruling that dogma in Afghanistan, why are okay with it in Ballard?

Dangerous to the community?


Charles, what crimes have they committed other then violating your delicate sensibilities?

Eco freaks burn houses and buildings. Those people are dangerous.

thanks PT...and in what setting is tolerance, intolerable?

And how come all the people who slam Mars church don't also go after Seattle's conservative mosques who require their women to wear head scarves?Or Buddhist temples who won't allow women (reborn in lower status) to be monks? Do these same folks who attack Mars, attack Muslim women in Seattle wearing head scarves and long robes?

Or is it only politically acceptable to attack certain types of religion?

"Or is it only politically acceptable to attack certain types of religion?"

Nope. I'll gladly attack them all.

You can bicker about tolerance all you want, but none of us who recognize that outfit as a cult want to have it shut down by force.

But if that cult held the power? You bet they'd use force to silence anyone not following orders. If Mars Hill was in a country filled with people just as fundamentalist as they are, but with a slightly different brand of faith? They, too, would shut them down.

They're lucky to be hosted by a community enlightened enough to recognize a cult when we see one, and liberal enough to let them be.

Since they think women brought evil into this world and aren't allowed to hold any leadership positions in the church (they do take their tiths though) I guess they only let the guys use twitter?

This church is so wierd.. Most guys I know go there to find girls that are a little more pure (or at least while they go there) and could care less about the theology. Other people who are afraid about the world have turned to the personal dogma taught there to make themselves feel safe.

THere are almost no 30 or 40 year olds there and very few people who grew up with any religious training or the ability to look at what they are being told versus what the scriptures actually say.

I wonder how many people attacking Mars consider themselves tolerant and drive around with COEXIST bumperstickers.

Angeletini,

I agree.

While we are harping on MH we should point out that not all the area churches operate this way.

The church down the road, Quest takes a very different approach and one that completely stays off the radar... unfortunately.

Here is the head pastor's blog: http://eugenecho.wordpress.com/

It's a tossup whether Mars Hill will be hit by a fiance or sex scandal first, but my guess it'll be both: using church funds to cover up sexual indescretions.

However, I'm up in the air on whether it'll be a hetero or homosexual affair that triggers it.

Mars Hill is scary as &*^%! I went there once because my so called "friends", two fellow sober tattooed guys, went there. I sat down by them and was soon barraged by a message of HATE by the young "hip" (NOT!) . I walked out and NO ONE followed me out to ask what was wrong or if I was ok, not even my "friends"! This place is EVIL, and preys upon young hipsters, using the internet to suck in naive kids who don't know better. They are a hateful, ignorant church and Jesus would be ASHAMED to be associated with it!!!

Ok. So I visited the blog of Quest's pastor. Another church I won't go to but thought this was pretty funny. He had his readers list a book of anti-essential christians books and here's some of them:

Everyone Is Going To Hell Except Me - John MacArthur
There’s No ‘U’ in Ministry: A Woman’s Guide - Mark Driscoll
Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid - John Hagee
God’s Most Glorified When We’re Most Calvinified in Him, by John Piper
Right Behind - a fresh set of Apocalyptic chronicles by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins
Eugene Cho Haven’t Published Squat so No One Can Even Make Fun of Him - by Eugene Cho

"I got enough to worry about in my life right now."

Everything ok, Boardbrown?

Didn't we already have this conversation once before on myballard?

Btw, I can't wait for the love and tolerance that results from the Trader Joe's crowd competing with the MH crowd for parking on a Sunday. Ha!

oh...and awhile back I traded my COEXIST bumper sticker for one that sez "F*ck everybody who is not me." Just for the record.

Geeky Swedes, what relevance does this post have to the community?

It's one thing, and quite news-worthy, if a Ballard based business/non-profit gets national attention, which was the reason for the last MH post, but to give us all the heads up that you can tweet during a MH service?

Seriously?

I think the joint's a blight on the neighborhood, and if I had kids, I'd keep them far, far, away, but as far as I can tell, it's a legal operation and they are merely exercising free speech, so there's not much to be done. I wish they'd move the whole thing to Jupiter (or Mars), but they have every right to spew their vitriol.

I assume this Twitter business got blogged here because it was, as they say, "a slow news day".

@34 'They may be nuts, but I bet they make fine neighbors.'

That sounds like the things the neighbors of serial killers always say.

....and everyone here is giving them the press they crave and need to grow their congregation. Sorry to add to it, but it pisses me off. That's the last you'll hear from this former Presbyterian on the subject.

Doc has caught on; condos, the homeless, bicyclists, and Mars Hill are all sending mini-geeky to college.

freaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaks. u are weirdos. THERES FOX'S IN THE GARDEN!

It doesn't make sense that the leader of a church should have a bigger ego than the one he is trying to bring people to. Humble pie comes from Heaven. : )

Don't worry, pretty soon Mars Hill will be rich enough to dump their followers and buy a nice big spread in Central Oregon, and retire.

Because Jesus will speak to the pastor, and tell him to.

My friend went to this church to try and find community. She was very dismayed when the Pastor started speaking about single mothers and referred to them as Sl*ts. Yes he said the word. She walked out. She is not a single mother but walked out because of the 'hatred' in his voice. She decided to worship at home with a few close friends and was much happier and enlightened.

BTW this was about 3 years ago and turned me off the idea of this Church. Maybe they have changed their ways since then?

If God is so great, wouldn't he have figured out how to Twitter himself?

Judging by the look in his face.. the guy in the picture above is watching an internet video or something. Something better and more entertianing than twittering.

Two single mothers, one chalice?

So, Mark Driscoll is basically saying Mary, mother of Jesus (also a single mom) is a slut?

And after scanning their annual report , see post #55, I see that they have another pastor by the name of Pastor Bubba. Seriously.